Local residents are advised to take precautions now that raccoon rabies has been confirmed in Norfolk County.

The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit received confirmation of a rabid specimen on Tuesday.

The carcass was recently collected along Highway 24 near Simcoe and sent to the Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry for testing.

“We have borders but animals unfortunately do not,” Kelsey Lutzi, the health unit’s manager of environmental health, said Wednesday.

“We hoped we could keep it at bay but unfortunately we can’t. It’s something we’ll have to monitor.”

Ontario was rabies-free for many years thanks to a bait vaccination program in wild areas of the province.

MNRF resurrected that program several years ago after rabid raccoons from upstate New York infiltrated eastern Ontario. Rabid raccoons from New York have since passed over the border into Canada in the area of Niagara Region.

Raccoon rabies was confirmed on Norfolk’s doorstep in Haldimand County in 2015. Two dozen raccoons have tested positive for rabies in Haldimand since then. Two skunks in Haldimand as well as a llama have also tested positive.

Since the raccoon rabies incursion, a total of 388 animals in Ontario have tested positive for the raccoon strain of rabies. Another 14 animals have tested positive for the fox strain.

Highway 24 north of Simcoe is a provincial highway. As such, it is maintained by the private contractor Carillion. Carillion’s duties include the removal of animal carcasses from the road allowance.

Lutzi says a Carillion employee decided that the carcass in question should be tested for rabies. The health unit will contact this employee to ensure precautions were taken during the collection of the carcass.

The health unit has warned about the dangers of raccoons on previous occasions. Raccoons harbour a number of diseases and parasites that can seriously damage human health.

The health unit offers the following tips for discouraging raccoons from venturing onto your property:

• Feed pets indoors. Do not leave anything edible outside that raccoons may find attractive. Residents jeopardize themselves and their neighbours when they feed wildlife.